Step by step
Moroccan how-to guides
Clear, detailed, step-by-step guides to cooking and navigating Moroccan food — how to steam couscous, brew proper mint tea, make preserved lemons and ras el hanout, use a tagine pot, and shop a Marrakech souk without getting lost or overcharged. 126 guides, each with the mistakes to avoid.
Page 1 of 6 · 126 how-to guides
10-15 minutes per decision
How to Avoid Tourist Trap Restaurants in Marrakech
How to spot and avoid overpriced, low-quality tourist trap restaurants in Marrakech — warning signs, what good local spots look like, and where to check first.
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About 10 minutes to read
How to Balance Sweet and Savoury in Moroccan Cooking
How to balance sweet and savoury in Moroccan dishes — using honey, dried fruit, cinnamon and onion without tipping a tagine into dessert territory.
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About 15 minutes per purchase
How to Bargain in a Moroccan Souk — Haggling with Good Humour
How to bargain in a Moroccan souk: the etiquette of haggling, making a first offer, using good humour, knowing when to walk away, and settling on a fair price in MAD.
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10-20 minutes per item
How to Bargain in the Marrakech Souks the Right Way
How to haggle properly in the Marrakech souks — starting prices, the pace of the back-and-forth, and how to walk away without offending anyone.
Read the guide About 20 minutes
How to Brown Meat for a Tagine (and When Not To)
How to brown meat for a Moroccan tagine the right way — when searing helps, when the traditional cold-start method is better, and how to build flavour without burning your spices.
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About 30 minutes to plan
How to Build a Moroccan Spice Cabinet — The Essential Dozen
How to build a Moroccan spice cabinet: the essential spices to stock, from cumin and cinnamon to saffron and ras el hanout, plus how to buy and store them well.
Read the guide About 30-45 minutes
How to Buy a Tagine Pot to Take Home
How to choose and buy a proper cooking tagine in Marrakech — glazed versus unglazed, what to check before buying, and how to season it for use at home.
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About 20 minutes
How to Buy Argan Oil — Culinary and Cosmetic, and How to Judge Quality
How to buy argan oil in Morocco: telling culinary from cosmetic oil, judging quality by colour, smell and price in MAD, and spotting oil cut with cheaper substitutes.
Read the guide About 30 minutes
How to Buy Authentic Argan Oil in Morocco
How to spot real Moroccan argan oil versus diluted or fake versions sold to tourists — labels, smell, price, and where to buy with confidence.
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About 15 minutes
How to Buy Bread at a Moroccan Bakery
How to buy bread in Morocco — from the round khobz of the corner shop to the communal ferran oven, plus msemen, harcha and the etiquette of Morocco's daily bread.
Read the guide About 1 hour
How to Buy Fresh Fish at Essaouira Port
How to buy fresh fish at Essaouira's working port — reading the daily catch, the grill stalls that cook it for you, prices, and how to avoid the tourist markups.
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About 20 minutes
How to Buy Fresh Herbs at a Marrakech Market
How to buy fresh herbs at a Marrakech market — the big bunches of coriander, parsley and mint Moroccan cooking runs on, how they're sold, and keeping them fresh.
Read the guide About 20 minutes
How to Buy Meat at a Moroccan Butcher
How to buy meat at a Moroccan butcher (jazzar) — reading the hanging carcasses, asking for the right cut for a tagine or brochettes, and freshness and halal basics.
Read the guide About 20-30 minutes
How to Buy Olives at a Moroccan Market
How to choose and buy Moroccan olives at a market — the main varieties, how to taste before buying, and how they're typically sold and priced.
Read the guide About 20-30 minutes
How to Buy Real Saffron in Morocco
How to identify genuine Moroccan saffron and avoid the fake or bulked-out versions sold to tourists — appearance, smell, price, and where it's genuinely grown.
Read the guide About 20 minutes
How to Buy Saffron in Morocco — Spotting Quality and a Fair Price
How to buy real saffron in Morocco: judge quality by colour, smell and thread shape, know a fair price per gram in MAD, run a simple water test, and dodge fakes.
Read the guide About 1 hour
How to Buy Spices in the Marrakech Souk Without Overpaying
How to buy real Moroccan spices in the Marrakech souk — what to look for, what a fair price looks like, and how to avoid the tourist-grade tins and blends.
Read the guide About 30 minutes
How to Char and Peel Peppers for Moroccan Salads
How to blister, steam and peel peppers and tomatoes for Moroccan salads like taktouka and zaalouk — the technique that gives these dishes their smoky, silky base.
Read the guide About 30 minutes to decide
How to Choose a Cooking Class in Marrakech — What Makes a Good One
How to choose a Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech: market visits, hands-on time, group size, menu, dietary options and fair pricing in MAD, so you learn real skills.
Read the guide 15 minutes to research and book
How to Choose a Good Cooking Class in Marrakech
How to pick a genuinely good cooking class in Marrakech — what a proper market-to-table class includes, questions to ask, and red flags to avoid.
Read the guide About 20 minutes
How to Choose and Buy Dates in Morocco
How to choose good Moroccan dates — the main varieties like Majhoul, how to judge freshness, and how they're sold in markets and souks.
Read the guide About 20 minutes
How to Choose Fresh Spices in Marrakech — Buying from the Spice Souk
How to choose fresh spices in Marrakech: buying whole over ground, judging aroma and colour, avoiding pre-made blends of dubious quality, and buying small and often.
Read the guide About 15 minutes
How to Choose Olives in a Souk — Reading the Barrels
How to choose olives at a Moroccan souk stall: telling the main types, tasting before you buy, judging freshness and cure, and buying a good mix from the barrels.
Read the guide About 15 minutes
How to Clean a Tagine Pot — Caring for Earthenware and Glaze
How to clean a tagine pot without ruining it: hand-washing, avoiding harsh detergent on unglazed clay, dealing with stuck-on food, drying fully, and re-oiling.
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Learning to cook Moroccan food
How do I make couscous the Moroccan way?
Real Moroccan couscous is steamed, not soaked — traditionally three times over a pot of stew, with the grain fluffed and lightly watered between steamings. Our step-by-step how-to guide covers the full method, with or without a couscoussier.
Do I need special equipment to cook Moroccan food?
Not really. A tagine pot and a couscoussier are lovely to have, but a heavy Dutch oven and an improvised steamer will make excellent versions of both. Each how-to guide notes the equipment you need and the everyday substitutes.
Where can I learn Moroccan cooking hands-on?
The best way to learn is beside a local host. A Marrakech cooking class typically includes a market visit and teaches three or four dishes from scratch, from tagine to msemen to mint tea — the perfect complement to these written guides.